Chapter 4

I don't know how long I walked before my phone vibrated in my pocket.

The screen lit up. It was a text from Liam:

[I canceled your joint credit card. If you don't have money for a hotel, stop being dramatic and come back to apologize.]

I looked at the words on the screen and gave a stiff, humorless smile.

That card was for buying our future home.

For seven years, I'd faithfully deposited my entire salary into it every month.

In his eyes, it was all his money.

He could cut off my livelihood at any time, just to force me to yield.

I didn't reply.

I immediately blocked his number, pulled out the SIM card, and tossed it into the gutter by the road.

Along with it went seven years of my youth, utterly wasted.

It was two in the morning.

Gritting my teeth, half-dead, I checked into the emergency room at City Hospital Two.

The ER doctor held up my X-ray, his brows furrowed in a tight knot.

"A comminuted fracture of the right scaphoid bone, and severe soft tissue contusion in your lower back."

"Why did you wait so long to come in for your hand?"

The doctor glanced at my medical record.

"You're a concept artist, aren't you? Your finger joints show long-term strain from holding a pen."

"You need surgery for steel pins immediately, or else this hand won't even be able to lift heavy objects in the future, let alone hold a pen."

I was drenched, sitting on the cold plastic chair, my mind blank.

I was a concept artist.

My right hand was my life.

"Doctor, please schedule the surgery."

My voice was horribly hoarse.

"Go pay the fees. A twenty thousand dollar deposit."

I took the paper and walked with difficulty to the payment window.

I searched all my pockets and found only an old payroll card, not linked to Liam.

Balance: thirteen hundred dollars.

This month, to get those two exclusive movie tickets for Liam, I'd used up all my savings, even overdrafting my food money for next month.

I clutched that thin bank card tightly, suddenly feeling despair.

I pulled out my phone, wanting to ask someone for money.

Scrolling through my contact list, I realized how pathetically barren my life was.

To accommodate Liam's schedule, I had canceled all my social engagements and outings.

My closest friend, Chloe Davis.

She was currently lying in my master bedroom, sleeping in my bed.

At twenty-seven years old, I was homeless, penniless, and nearly an invalid.

"Are you going to pay or not? There are others waiting behind you."

The cashier impatiently tapped on the glass.

I stiffly stepped aside.

Leaning against the pale hospital wall, I slowly slid down, squatting on the floor.

I buried my face in my knees, a broken laugh escaping my throat.

I trembled with laughter, tears splashing onto the muddy floor.

It was too ridiculous.

Alice Linwood, you truly live like a joke.

Just as I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

The harsh fluorescent light overhead was suddenly blocked by a shadow.

"Alice."

The voice was familiar, yet filled with an undisguised tremble of panic and concern.

I slowly lifted my head.

Ethan Reed stood before me, breathless.

He must have just come from a business function, but his hair was wet with rain.

"I was just in the neighborhood for a project, and I saw someone who looked a lot like you walking in the rain..."

He crouched down, his gaze falling on my right wrist and my blood-stained knees. His eyes immediately reddened.

"What have you done to yourself?"

I looked at him, opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

The nerves that had been taut all night.

Upon hearing that long-lost concern, they completely snapped.

My vision went black, and I lost consciousness.

In the last second before I passed out, I faintly heard Ethan's furious roar:

"Doctor! Help her!"

Meanwhile.

New York, our old apartment.

Liam Walker stood by the floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking at the overwhelming downpour outside, he impatiently tugged at his tie.

Half an hour.

Alice Linwood hadn't cried and knocked on the door in the hallway as usual.

Nor had she sent any begging texts.

"Liam..."

Chloe Davis, wearing Alice's silk pajamas, walked over timidly.

"Alice went out so late, will she be okay? Maybe you should call and check?"

"What could happen? She has no money, and I canceled that joint credit card."

Liam snorted, his voice certain.

"Don't worry about her. The rain's so heavy outside, she'll come crawling back, crying and begging me to open the door, in less than half an hour."

He turned and walked towards the couch.

His gaze suddenly caught something on the table, tucked under a glass.

It was the velvet ring box he'd bought for his proposal next month.

And next to the box, a set of keys lay quietly.

Alice Linwood's apartment keys.

Liam's heart suddenly, inexplicably, skipped a beat.